Why blend in when you can stand out

Turning 27 and Society’s Expectations

As I come closer to the fine ‘old’ age of 27 I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on life. Something I honestly try to avoid as it only makes me stress out and anxious about where I am this stage of my life.

Do you ever think you’ve been living your life the way you think it should be, trying to make those ‘milestone’ moments of your life on time? When it comes to society we can be totally brainwashed. I think we all feel we have to be married/have babies/ and a career by a certain age. We read about it but do we actually consider if any of this played a part in our lives?

When I look back to doing the Leaving Cert and applying for courses I can honestly say I just followed the crowd. I had no idea what I wanted. All I knew was that my friends were all going to Cork, so that’s where I applied for. I just knew at the time that college was ‘the next step‘ for those finishing school. Now I can tell you that I really shouldn’t have gone straight to college. Sure I have my degree now which I’m #blessed to have, but in nothing I want to make use out of. I won’t say I regret this choice but I probably shouldn’t have let others influence my decision, college is not the be all and end all.

Even now, myself and my boyfriend have been living together for the bones of a year. We had been discussing saving for a mortgage because naturally that’s ‘the next step‘. It seems everyone’s goal is to own a house, but the more I talk to people and research it seems to be such an Irish thing. Owning your own house at my age seems to be a big deal right now. Yes renting has it’s restrictions and as everyone says it’s ‘dead money‘ but for the love of God, don’t judge someone if that’s what they want to do. Also can I just add, that AIB mortgage ad does not put me at ease. Am I really meant to be ok that I can finally own my house when I’m in my 60/70s?? SERIOUSLY!!

Myself and himself have been together over 7 years so sure, we speak of marriage, as again it’s ‘the next step’ for a long term relationship. I know it’s all so adult, I feel too young for all this chat. When you’re with someone that long it’s all you hear from other people too….no pressure anyways. The more we spoke the more we realise it’s something neither of us want, right now anyway. At the minute we’re talking of travelling, living in another country, and just embracing our youth and not feeling forced into what society would say how your life should go.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, sometimes it can feel like there’s a pressure we put on ourselves about how our lives should be going, and what stage of our lives we should be at for our age. You know what though, fuck that. Take life at your own pace, life’s tough enough as it is. Trust me, nobody in their 20s has a fucking clue what to do with their life, we are all just winging it. So what you’re nearly 30 and haven’t found ‘the one’, so what you don’t have a ‘proper job’….whatever that even is. Go with the flow of things, as long as you’re happy is really all that matters.